Four soldiers dead. Was it caused by a massive intelligence failure . This morning, the latest on an nbc news investigation. All that plus bill oreillys reported 32 million payout to a Sexual Harassment accuser. Elon musks dream of highspeed underground travel takes a leap forward. And its official youre doing halftime at the super bowl . Youll do halftime. The announcement that has Justin Timberlake and his fans jumping for joy today, monday, october 23rd, 2017. From nbc news, this is today, with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to today on this monday morning. Thank you for joining us. Hodas in for savannah. Good to have you here. Thats the perfect way to announce that youre going to be performing at the super bowl. Jumping and down with jimmy fallon. We had a headline, houston has a problem. Houston has a series and new york has a problem. It was a long weekend. Well talk about that in a little while. Lets get to our top story on a monday morning. Its a string of murders in tampa, florida, sparking fears that a possible serial killer may be on the loose there. Three deadly shootings in the same neighborhood, in less than three weeks. Kerry sanders is in tampa with the investigation. What can you tell us . Reporter the community has put up a memorial to the victims. Baffling the police, the three victims do not appear to have any connection to each other. So, detectives say, if there is a serial killer, it may well be that he is attacking at random. This morning, fear and grief are gripping this tampa neighborhood, where residents believe a serial killer is on the loose. Three people gunned down in ten days. The victims, all killed in a onemile radius. Some residents now keeping their guns nearby for protection. Having the gun at the ready to you is definitely a safety issue. And definitely something we want to do. We dont know who is doing this. Reporter authorities urgently want to talk to this person caught on surveillance video, described as a person of interest. With a chilling caution. We dont know if its more than one person. A team of people. Theres so many things we dont have answers to. We own this street. We own this street. We own this community. Reporter sunday night, a solemn procession, stopping at the site of each killing, lighting candles, remembering the victims. 22yearold benjamin mitchell. 32yearold monta hoffa. And anthony boa, an autistic man, who took the wrong bus home from work. He was never supposed to be in that neighborhood. Tell me about anthony. Anthony, he was a loving, kind human being. A beautiful angel. He wanted to be treated like everyone else. Reporter neighbors are now banning together, determined to find whoever isser terrifying r community. This person doesnt stand a chance. He doesnt know it yet. Reporter overnight, theres volunteer foot patrols that continue this morning, from the guardian angels, supplementing the police who have saturated this area with extra units, especially as kids wait for school buss this morning. Unnerving time in tampa. Thank you very much. We go to Bowe Bergdahl. A sentencing begins today, who pled guilty to endangering his polit colleagues when he walked away from his post. Morgan radford is at ft. Bragg. Good morning. Reporter starting this morning, the army will decide Bowe Bergdahls punishment. It comes down to one single military judge, who will determine whether or not he spends his life behind bars. Bowe bergdahl opening up in an exclusive interview with britains sunday times as he awaits a verdict on his future. The people that are to the point that say just shoot him, you can never convince them to change their minds. Reporter the Army Sergeant leaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior in the line of the enemy. He highlighted problems in his unit. Shortly after, he was captured by the taliban and imprisoned for five years. Every day, basically, at some point in time, i tell myself youre not going to get out of this. Reporter he was freed in 2014, in exchange for five taliban detainees, a deal made by president obama that was widely criticized by republicans, including thencandidate donald trump. We get a traitor, maimed bergdahl. They get five of the worst killers they wanted for nine years. Reporter a week ago, President Trump standing by his earlier statements. Im not going to comment on him. But people have heard my comments in the past. Reporter sentencing includes testimony from servicemen that were injured while searching for big daal. Those will be the determinable moments. Reporter he never intended to put others at risk. Bergdahl and his lawyer chose to forgo a deal from prosecutors. He was likely going to be found guilty in the first place. They can go to the judge and say he was trying to accept responsibility for what hes done. Reporter the sentencing hearing is expected to last well into the week. In addition of facing prison time, he could be stripped of his rank and pay and be dishonorably discharged. Lawmakers are demanding answers about that ambush attack on u. S. Soldiers in niger and the militarys presence there. Nbc National CorrespondentPeter Alexander is joining us from the white house. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Beyond all of the political sparring, so many unresolved questions, three weeks after that deadly ambush, leaving senators to believe the white house has not been worth coming with details about the military presence in niger and pressing for answers. This morning, more Unanswered Questions over what went wrong in niger, an attack that claimed the lives of la David Johnson and three other soldiers. Why was la david separated from the rest of his battalion. Why was la david found almost a mile away . Why was he not in an armored truck . I want to know. Reporter a senior congressional aide briefed on the deaths tells nbc news, the ambush stems from a massive intelligence failure. The senates top democrat was asked if he knew forces had been operating in niger . I did not. Reporter Lindsey Graham echoing that point. I didnt know there was 1,000 troops in niger. Reporter graham, now pressing the pentagon for answers. Theyre going to brief us why they were there and what they were doing. Reporter it socomes as President Trump is not letting go of his condolence call over johnsons family. I have called many people. Every one of them appreciated it. I was surprised to see this. Reporter the president insulting the florida congresswoman, who revealed details of mr. Trumps conversation with johnsons widow. Disparaging freee ining frederi twitter. Hours before johnson was laid to rest. Wilson pushing back at the president and his chief of staff, demanding john kelly apologize, after he misrespected the congresswomans remarks at a 2015 dedication at a field office. He was a puppet of the president. I dont appreciate people lying on me. Thats what he did. Reporter in a new interview, john mccain, a frequent trump target taking a swipe at the president , who received a draft deferment. We drafted the lowest level of america. And the highest income level found a doctor that would say they had a bone spur. That is wrong. That is wrong. Reporter if were going to ask every american to serve, every american should serve. He never mentions the president by name. But mccain and President Trump have engaged in tough words before. For all the criticisms that donald trump faced since the beginning of the campaign, his vietnam deferments were low on that list. That appears to have changed in a hurry. Back to you. Peter, thanks very much. The president also talking about taxes. During a sunday conference call, he urged republicans to rally behind a senatepassed budget bill so they can move on his tax reform plan. One proposal now being considered would significantly reduce the taxfree amount you can contribute to your 401 k . Here to talk about that is jim cramer from mad money. 401 k s are hugely popular. What are the changes . You can get an 18,000 break. Meaning, you dont have to pay taxes on the first money you put in. You pay taxes after. 24,000 people over 50. The principal way we save in this country. The principal way the middle class can sock away 5 million. This is what we do to have something for retirement. Whats illadvised . What are the rumors telling us . They cut it to 2,400. This would be the notion of being able to save if you thought Social Security would go away or get diminished, the notion that you would put away something. This would stop the whole incentive. Were not good savers in this country. The one thing we have done right is the 401 k . People have embraced it. People put away the money. Take longterm thinking. Pay taxes on the way out much later. This is something the government has done thats great. Its scary just listening to you talk about it. Sure. What are the odds Something Like this might happen . The industry is very powerful. They will go against it. But more importantly, this is the middleclass tax break. Are you really going to help the middleclass, as the president says, and then take away the number one tax break . Does that cut it down to ribbons . Let me go back to the actual procedure. 401 k s. No taxes now. Taxes when you take the benefit years down the road. Theres a roth account, which is the flipside of that. Taxes now. No taxes down the road. Would that be an alternative . It would make sense. But what people love is not paying taxes now. They get to have that mown compounded. Its a real incentive. Its not an incentive when youre playing with posttaxed dollars. This works because you think, im saving for the future, putting away money. If you have paid taxes, they wont do it. They wont do it. And thats why i dont think this has much chance to pass. All right, jim. Thank you very much. Also this morning, we are hearing for the first time from the pennsylvania woman who was held captive by a talibanlinked Extremist Group for five years. Stephanie gosk is here with what she is saying. Caitlin coleman and joshua boyle was rescued. She has remained silent. This morning, coleman is breaking that silence, making sure she refprefers to go by he married name, Caitlin Boyle. Adding for now, she is not ready to describe the horror her family lived through for five years. This morning, Caitlin Boyle remains in a canadian hospital. A member of the family says she is suffering from exhaustion and emotional stress. In an email, from an account her husband says the family shares, caitlin gave one of her first public statements, after five years of captivity in afghanistan. It reads in part, one part of our imprisonment that we can take pride in was our schooling of the boys. We had no educational supplies but we did as much as we could in the circumstances. Caitlin describes using cardboard boxes and scraps of fabric to work on projects. Now being free, i am rejoicing that their homeschooling will continue with resources that make it broader and more money. The boyles have three children. Two sons, ages 4 and 2. And a 6monthold daughter. Joshua boyle says a fourth child, an infant daughter, was killed in captivity. The family was rescued less than two weeks ago. He and his wife were in afghanistan in 2012 to help the afghan people. They were kidnapped by a militant group. Returning home has been a total shock, he told us, especially for his wife. Her religious faith gets her through. I think that is and her love of being a mother, is really all thats getting her through right now. Reporter caitlin emailed her hometown in pennsylvania, the york daily record. The messages to the boyle family criticized the pressure put on her to speak about the ordeal. Why dont i have the right to just be myself and be with my husband and children . Adding, everybody says, no, you have to come out and talk about it. But no. No, i dont. And everybody nice has said its my choice and i can talk when i want and to whom i want. When asked if she might return to the u. S. , the mother of three said, it was too soon to say for sure. But if they return to her hometown, she looks forward to sharing her childhood experiences with her children. Were told that caitlins mother has been to visit her in the hospital, where caitlin has been for a week. Thank you so much. An update on Hurricane Relief efforts for puerto rico. The senate is pushing ahead on a Hurricane Relief package that would give that island a badlyneeded infusion of cash. The measure gives funds and jumpstarts Recovery Efforts in states like florida and texas. In the meantime, Chuck Schumer is calling on the president to name a single official to oversee and coordinate relief efforts in puerto rico. Schumer says the current federal response there has been disorganized, slowfooted and dismanaged, his words. A month of the hurricane hit that island, 80 is without power. 20 loacks running water. Lets get a check of the morning weather with al. Thanks for spending time with us. If youre in the eastern half of the u. S. , looking at strong stuff. This is the same system that caused big problems in the midsection of the country over the weekend. Strong storms. Up to six tornadoes. Norman, oklahoma, losing a portion of the casino roof. Extensive storm damage in eight states. This system is rocketing from the east, to indianapolis and chicago, all the way down into florida. The front itself, stretches some 1,100 miles. This is going the make its way into the northeast and the midwest for today. Into tomorrow. Showers will erupt tomorrow. And its crossing into the northeast for the afternoon hours. Were talking anywhere from three to five inches of rain from chicago, into the northeast, with strong, gusty winds into new england, upwards of 50mileperhour wind gusts possible. Were going to you know who likes to be in control . This guy. Check it out selfappendectomy oh, thats really attached. Thats why i rent from national. Where i get the control to choose any car in the aisle i want, not some car they choose for me. Which makes me one smooth operator. Ah still a little tender. vo go national. Go like a pro. Good morning. Im first alert meteorologist krystal klei. Today not as beautiful as we saw over the weekend. Still on the warm side. Temperature of 74 this afternoon in center city. Mostly cloudy conditions. We could see a sprinkle falling over the pennsylvania suburbs and Lehigh Valley. Even philly could get a drop. Mostly dry. And the morning fog will burn off. 73 at lansdale. This afternoon, 70 in allentown. Low to mid 70s over new jersey. Low 70s at the jersey shore. Low to mid 70s as well in delaware. And thats your latest weather. Guys . Thanks so much. Coming up, did former fox news host bill host bill oreily settle a Sexual Harassment allegation for 32 million . This morning, the stunning, new report and what he is saying about it. Also ahead, the classified Jfk Assassination files that are about to be released for the first time. What will they reveal . First this, is today on nbc. Just ahead, getting closer. Big news by elon musks travel between new york and washington, d. C. In just 29 minutes. Plus, Justin Timberlake reveals he is sedheading to the super bowl halftime show. 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